HENS AND THEIR EGGS
-Golden Comets start regularly at 16-17 weeks. -White Leghorns start to lay between 18-20 weeks -Barred Plymouth Rocks start to lay at 20-24 weeks -Hens should lay about 260 eggs a year (on average) -Hens lay eggs for about three years then it gets less frequent. -Hens are called Pullets until they lay- around 20 weeks -Some lay daily others lay twice a week -Some never lay, due to structure malfunctions -Laying routines can be disturbed by molting, daylight shortage, temperature extremes, illness/malnutrition, stress, and lack of fresh water. Hens return to back to their laying habits when the disruption ends or is corrected -Many hens stop producing after two years, some continue -Hens will lay eggs even if they have never seen a rooster.
Building Your Coop
1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. Design your desired coop(s) on paper (rough draft) Gather you materials; chicken wire, hammers, nails, plywood/hardwood, tacks, etc. Put together the base of the coop Then, when your sure its right nail your base down/ together Build the whole frame of the coop Start nailing on plywood, hardwood, and chicken wire to the desired spot on your coop
Egg Central
The Yolk: The chicken egg starts as an egg yolk inside a hen. The yolk is produced by the hen's ovary in a process called ovulation. Fertilization: The yolk is released into the oviduct (a long, spiraling tube in the hen's reproductive system), where it can be fertilized internally by a sperm. The Egg White (albumin): The yolk continues down the oviduct (fertilized or not) and is covered with a membrane, structural fibers, and layers of albumin (the egg white). This part of the oviduct is called the Magnus. The Chalazae: As the egg goes down through the oviduct, its continually rotating within the spiraling tube. This twists the structural fibers (called the chalazae), which form rope-like strands that anchor the yolk into the thick egg white. There are two chalazae anchoring each yolk, on opposite ends of the egg. The Eggshell: The eggshell is placed around the egg in the lower part of the oviduct of the hen, just before it is laid. The shell is made of calcite, a crystalline form of calcium carbonate. This entire trip through the oviduct takes about one day. Growth of the Embryo: The fertilized blastodisc (now called the blastoderm) grows and becomes the embryo. As the embryo grows, its primary food source is the yolk. Waste products (like urea) collect in a sack called the allantoids. The exchange of oxygen and carbon dioxide gas occurs through the eggshell; the chorion lines the inside surface of the egg and is connected to the blood vessels of the embryo. The Incubation Period: The embryo develops inside the egg for 21 days (the incubation period), until a chick pecks its way out of its eggshell and is hatched.
The SHELL is the outer layer. Next, is he OUTER and INNER SHELL MEMBRANE. At the base of the egg, there is an AIR CELL. Then there is the thin and thick ALBUMIN. Following that layer comes the CHALAZA. Then, in the center of the egg, the yolk carries three more parts of the egg; the YOLK, the YOLK MEMBRANE, and the BLASTODISC
More Fun Facts
Pullets often lay malformed eggs before a laying routine occurs. They may lay malformed eggs because of stress, or illness. Fart egg and Oops egg are terms for tiny eggs that quickly pass through the oviduct without reaching full size. Some eggs come out without the shell. They could only have a membrane or be a loose yolk and white. Double eggs or an Egg in an egg are created when an egg with a shell is encased by the next egg in the oviduct and a shell is produced over the outer egg as a wall. Double yolkers are normal eggs with two yolks. The egg may be unusually large. Yolkless eggs or dwarf eggs consist of only egg whites. Shell color is a breed characteristic, most lay light to medium brown eggs. A few lay white, dark brown, green or blue colored eggs.
